Surrey school district seeks targeted COVID-19 measures for hardest hit schools

SURREY, B.C. — The superintendent of the British Columbia school district hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic says it is pursuing targeted measures for more vulnerable schools.

Jordan Tinney says in a video posted today that the impacts of COVID-19 have not been felt equally across the Surrey school district.

He says about one-third of schools have received two or fewer letters related to COVID-19 exposures to date but it’s a weekly occurrence for others.

In a blog post, he notes that socioeconomic inequality is a major factor in how easily students can self-isolate and the toll on both staff and students is high.

Tinney says the measures involve strengthening and expanding what is possible within the existing public health orders, but initiatives like expanding mask rules are outside the district’s power.

He says the new measures for hardest-hit schools include prohibiting parents from entering schools without the principal’s permission, moving pre-kindergarten StrongStart programs online, asking students to leave the premises right after school and increasing monitoring of staff rooms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2021.

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